Track-supported vehicles find a wide spectrum of application today, especially in the building sector for the purpose of ground leveling, excavation work and the like. Such endless-tread vehicles are, however, subject to stringent regulations designed for the protection of road surfaces and, as a rule, have to be transported by flat-bed trailers even over short distances. The reason for this is that the track shoes mounted on Caterpillar tractors are generally plate-shaped or wedge-shaped steel members which have the tendency to tear up the relatively soft road surface. Thus, it is not permitted to employ tracked excavating machines for building canalization or sewage systems in towns but the less efficient wheeled excavating machines have to be used instead.
Moreover, known track shoes have the further disadvantage that their gaps immediately clog with muddy or snow-covered particles of soil which considerably reduces their mobility and especially their climbing ability. Further, the wedge-shaped steel shoes are subject to considerable wear and tear and also cause an undesirably great depth of penetration down to the level of the Caterpillar tracks where damage can result from contact with stones and the like.